H aRRgh!! http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/ The daily dilemmas of a human resources officer en Copyright 2010 Thu, 14 May 2009 13:27:50 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Could you be the next HR Hartley? Want to blog for Personnel Today? If you've always had a hidden talent for writing and you're opinionated about your work in HR, how would you like to write for Personnel Today, anonymously?

Our previous writer, "HR Hartley", did a fantastic job giving a behind-the-scenes account of HR at his organisation. But I've been unable to track him down lately, hence this blog has laid dormant for some time.

Interested in filling his shoes? Your best posts may even appear in print. Have a look back at what HR Hartley wrote, the kind of issues that came up and if you think you could match it or better it, call Rob Moss on 020 8652 3918 or email him.

]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2009/05/could-you-be-the-next-hr-hartl.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2009/05/could-you-be-the-next-hr-hartl.html Human resources hr hartley Thu, 14 May 2009 13:27:50 +0000 Expenses: Is it really worth claiming 15 pence? I will try to start this blog in a calm and collected manner, but please forgive me if some degree of ranting enters at some point very soon.
 
The vast majority of people are obviously 'feeling the pinch' in one form or another. I'm no exception, and have every sympathy for those that truly have no idea how they are going to get through the coming weeks, months, and possibly years.
 
However, the 2 people I am about to mention don't strike me as being in this bracket, being as they are managers within our organisation and are in fairly secure positions compared to some of us.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/10/expenses-is-it-really-worth-cl.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/10/expenses-is-it-really-worth-cl.html attitude claim economy expenses global greed manager money petty recession Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:34:39 +0000 Home Office Ineptitude: No Laughing Matter You often read about civil service ineptitude, but it's not often you experience it directly in a way that could have resulted in someone losing their job.
 
One of our employees has been waiting for his residency permit to come through for several months, which has caused us some concern given that we are currently within the application process for a new sponsorship licence.
 
Our concerns led me to contact the employer helpline at the Home Office last week, and today I heard back from them.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/10/home-office-ineptitude-no-laug.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/10/home-office-ineptitude-no-laug.html contract delay documents false home office ineptitude licence residency sponsorship Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:31:09 +0000 The Economic Situation Starts to Bite... It's fair to say that the worsening economic situation has begun to take its toll on us here.
 
Customer orders are falling at an increasingly alarming rate, which has resulted in the inevitable early discussions about the 'r' word...
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/10/the-economic-situation-starts.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/10/the-economic-situation-starts.html disciplinary dismissal permanent redundancy strict temporary turnover Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:09:35 +0000 Senior Management Meeting; An Eye-Opening Experience In the absence of my boss, who is off enjoying some sun somewhere exotic, I sat in on a Senior Management meeting today.
 
My brief was to keep an eye on them, and I now understand why that was...
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/09/senior-management-meeting-an-e.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/09/senior-management-meeting-an-e.html absence bickering holiday leader management meeting senior Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:54:09 +0000 Communication: A Forgotten Practice? Within our department, communication is usually excellent, which is just as well given our small size and huge variety of tasks that greet us every day.
 
The same cannot be said when we look outside of our office.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/09/communication-a-forgotten-prac.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/09/communication-a-forgotten-prac.html audit communication panic presentation Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:58:57 +0000 Bullying Case Concludes: The Judgement Is In After much agonising, re-interviewing and general to-ing and fro-ing, the judgement in the bullying case has finally been made.
 
Well, I say bullying case, but although it did begin as a 'simple' bullying case as one reader described it, it ended up as something more than that.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/09/bullying-case-concludes-the-ju.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/09/bullying-case-concludes-the-ju.html allegation bullying complaint evidence malicious misconduct resign stupid Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:56:28 +0000 Bullying Case: Judgement Day Looms Tomorrow is judgement day in the bullying case that has dominated the past couple of weeks at work.
 
Having conducted the investigation I won't be involved in the disciplinary meeting, and I have to say I'm thankful for that.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/bullying-case-judgement-day-lo.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/bullying-case-judgement-day-lo.html bullying disciplinary dismissal guilty innocent judgement misconduct satisfaction witch hunt Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:06:43 +0000 Evidence in Bullying Case Mounts Up As is often the case when such a situation arises, more people are coming out of the woodwork to complain about the individual who was accused of bullying last week.
 
A couple of these simply back-up what has already been said, but one has added a further disturbing twist to what is already a messy situation.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/evidence-in-bullying-case-moun.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/evidence-in-bullying-case-moun.html advances bullying disturbing evidence harassment inappropriate sexual suspension touching twist Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:51:15 +0000 Another Day, Another Disciplinary Whilst the investigation into the bullying case continues, another significant disciplinary situation has arisen in the company.
 
Like the bullying case, this could prove fatal for the individuals career at our company...
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/another-day-another-disciplina.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/another-day-another-disciplina.html client disciplinary disgusted embarrassed fatal ignored investigation lie mislead negligence Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:57:40 +0000 Bullying Case provides an unwelcome return to work After 2 weeks off work enjoying a well earned (I think) bit of relaxation and sunshine, I had hoped to break myself in gently today.
 
No such luck unfortunately. Apart from the 312 emails that I came back in to, within 2 hours I found myself taking a very serious complaint from an employee.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/bullying-case-provides-an-unwe.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/08/bullying-case-provides-an-unwe.html bully bullying complainant complaint consequence genuine serious unwelcome Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:05:14 +0000 Document Saga Rolls On The saga of the document checks rolls on, with no signs of abating.
 
Today there seemed to be a coordinated effort by a few employees to constantly email me protesting about the planned checks.
 
As much as I tried to ignore them, I quite like a good argument so couldn't resist putting my factual point of view across...
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/07/document-saga-rolls-on.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/07/document-saga-rolls-on.html argument checks contract document email factual frenzy pacify saga Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:10:39 +0000 Internal Barriers to Document Checks The last couple of days at work have been 2 of the most frustrating that I have had to endure since starting with the company.
 
As we are due to apply for a sponsership licence so that we can continue to bring skilled immigrant workers in to the company, we are trying to get our 'house in order' with regard to the checks that we should be doing as an employer.
 
After years of neglect from the previous HR administration, it's a fairly sizeable task. In order to avoid any discrimination, we are obviously asking to see the appropriate documents from all employees, regardless of nationality.
 
It's here that our problem lies.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/07/internal-barriers-to-document.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/07/internal-barriers-to-document.html bia checks discrimination document immigrant immigration passport sponsership licence Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:25:50 +0000 The Truth Comes Out A couple of weeks ago, a junior member of our department left for pastures new.
 
At the time, we were all fairly sorry to see her go as she seemed to be good at what she was doing and generally a very popular character.
 
As it turns out, she was exceptionally good at what she was doing... not an awful lot and then covering it up.
]]> http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/07/the-truth-comes-out.html http://www.personneltoday.com/blogs/human-resources-diary-h-arrgh/2008/07/the-truth-comes-out.html cover up exceptional incensed leaver neglect neglected popular reference Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:25:48 +0000 HR taking the lead in cutbacks As reported last week, the current economic climate has started to have implications at work.
 
Firstly we were told that recruitment was indefinitely on hold, and now every department has been told to come up with measures to save 3% on their budget for this financial year.
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